


Demonomagy

by LunarboundLunaria



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Demon Hunters, Alternate Universe - Demons, Attempt at Humor, Blackwatch, Blackwatch Jesse McCree, Blackwatch Moira O'Deorain, Blackwatch Reaper | Gabriel Reyes, Blood and Injury, Consensual, Cussing, Demon Angela "Mercy" Ziegler, Demon Hunters, Demon Summoning, Demon/Human Relationships, Demons, Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/F, Light Angst, Misogyny, Moicy, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Overwatch - Freeform, Overwatch members are demon hunters, Pre-Fall of Overwatch, Romance, Self-Harm, Sexual Tension, Tags Contain Spoilers, Temporary Character Death, Violence, but misogynists get what they deserve
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-03-11
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:46:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22133503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunarboundLunaria/pseuds/LunarboundLunaria
Summary: Demonomagy, Noun: Magic in which the aid of demons is invoked; black magic.
Relationships: Moira O'Deorain/Angela "Mercy" Ziegler
Comments: 14
Kudos: 83





	1. In Which a Contract Is Made

Moira stood completely still, staring at what she had just done to her tiny apartment. She wanted her eyes to be deceiving her; she wanted to awaken, lying in her bed, all of this just being a bad dream. She closed her blue eyes and counted to three, and when she opened them, much to her chagrin, the scene before her hadn’t changed. She stood in the middle of a pentagram, one she painted in red onto her own living room floor after she had moved her minimalistic furniture to the sides of the square room. Each corner of the pentagram had a lit candle, and in the center sat a small table with items laid out on top of it. The items on the table included a sharpened knife and a book with a lit candle next to it. Moira opened the book and read the next few lines, letting out a deep sigh as her eyes glided over the words “cut”, “offer”, “blood”, and “summon”. She was nearing the final few steps that were dire to getting this to work, then she would truly know if this book was rubbish or… well, she didn’t want to finish that thought. She picked the knife up, her hands shaking terribly so, and she could feel butterflies rising in her stomach as she tried to swallow them back down. Even if she wanted to quit she couldn’t, not now at least, she had gone too far, and leaving now could have poor ramifications according to the book; however, she did have a back-up plan tucked away in her hoodie’s pocket, just in case things went bad, although she still wasn’t certain if she believed any of this… yet, here she was, about to harm herself in an attempt at making her life better by getting the prestige that she knew she deserved yet just couldn’t achieve by herself.

“Mi sangas pro la vundoj de inferaj trancxoj.” Her eyes followed the lines of the book as she spoke them out loud to the best of her ability, trying to pronounce each word correctly as this was not her native language, something that was difficult to do when her voice was trembling as badly as it was. Once she finished these lines out loud, she brought the blade of the knife to the palm of her left hand, pressing it against her flesh as bright red droplets began to drip from the incision. She continued, “La Diablo estas vivanta ene de mia korpo…” She drew the knife downwards in a striking motion, like ripping a bandage off, as the sharp pain caused her to grimace and stagger back a few steps, blood splashing below and around her on her apartment floor. “Lauxnome de nia dio Satano la plej brilanta Ni vekigu la lordon de la abismo!” She finished the chant, holding her upturned bloodied hand and the bloodied knife out in front of her, an offering to whatever demonic being would come and accept it. She waited for something to happen, standing completely still, fighting every urge to run, to get out of there, but nothing happened nor did anything change. Slowly, Moira brought her hand and the knife back towards her, resting them to her sides.

“Ah, clearly this was a foolish idea…” The flames on the candles that surrounded her flickered without her noticing. “Did I really cut myself for some silly book I found? Did I really think this would solve all my problems?” She began to laugh, dropping her head, staring at the blood splashes on the ground, the thin wound she caused was already clotting on its own as a few last droplets dripped downwards, “God I’m pathetic…” The flames on the candles grew larger.

“Dear Satan, you are indeed pathetic…” A whisper, then a giggle, echoed throughout the room, causing Moira to snap her head back up and turn her eyes in every direction, looking for who the voice belonged to as she held the knife out defensively.

“Who… who’s there?” She muttered, breath quickening as she turned each and every way, ready to attack with the knife in her hand.

The flames from the candles turned bright red in color as they grew larger and erupted from the wicks, causing Moira to gasp out loud as she tightened her grip on the knife; however, she felt as though she was frozen in place and couldn’t move her legs let alone her arms to attack. The flames began twirling towards the center, right in front of her, and they formed what looked like a vortex as a shadow appeared within the middle. The shadow moved, a snapping sound could be heard, and the flames dispersed instantly, leaving not even smoke behind, as a demonic creature floated in front of a stunned Moira.

“Greetings mortal.” 

Moira’s mouth was agape, her eyes fluttering to try to take in what had happened and who was in front of her. The creature’s facial features were feminine and human-like besides the long black horns which curved upwards towards the sky from the sides of her head and her pointed ears which had multiple piercings with different black earrings dangling from her earlobes. The rest of her was completely clothed in a formfitting leather-like red and black ensemble that went up to her neck with bits of orange sparingly decorating the outfit—much fancier than Moira’s own purple hoodie and black sweatpants. The demon’s “feet” were more hoof-like while her wings and tail were more draconic-looking—her long tail was red with black scales on the top and tip, and her wings were sharp, pointy, and illuminated with a yellow color that cascaded into red at the top. Her hair, which was tied into a ponytail, was a deep black—or was it even hair? Her ponytail flowed into what looked like and acted like a flame and any loose strands licked around her face like fire. Moira finally rested her wide eyes back onto the demon’s own red eyes.

“Not much for speaking, eh?” She floated down to the ground, her hooves clicking as they hit the wooden floor. “Ah, you did so much for me, what a waste to have me just eat your soul without even hearing your name…” She spoke as she reached down to dip her gloved fingers in Moira’s pooled blood, bringing them to her mouth, her sharp, pointed teeth showing themselves as she lapped at the blood on her fingers.

“U-uh… I… uh…” Was all Moira could muster as she finally felt her legs loosen up from their locked position and she took a small step backward from the creature in front of her.

The demon sighed as she stood back up, the tip of her tail twitching back-and-forth quickly as she spoke, “Oh, you do talk. Well, shall I go first? I am known as Mercy.”

“… Mercy? Seriously?” Moira questioned as she stopped her descent backward, one eyebrow lifted.

“Yes, if you have an issue with that, I can bring my boss here to speak with you…” Mercy smiled a sharp-toothed grin. 

“N-no, that’s not necessary… I’m… Moira…”

“Then it isn’t a problem, good. Hm, Moira, what a lovely name.” She took a few steps towards Moira, who didn’t know if she should run or not. Mercy put her fingers on top of the knife that Moira was still holding defensively, “Now, now, none of that. We’re all friends here, right? I mean, you did summon me…” She pushed the top of the knife downwards, “Besides, a mortal knife isn’t going to hurt me, dubel. So, let’s just do away with it, no? Set it on the ground so we can discuss why I’m here in a more pleasant setting.”

Moira paused for a second before doing as the demon told her, setting the knife on the floor—honestly, she had even forgotten she was holding it, and she doubted that a simple kitchen knife would vanish a demon, no matter how sharp. She then reached past Mercy to grab the book on the small table, but accidentally knocked over the candle sitting next to it, causing the flame to fall on her wooden floor. “Oh, just perfect... Uh, h-hang on, I need to grab—” Moira stopped mid-sentence because, when she tried to leave the pentagram, the candle flames encircling her and the demon flew up from their wicks in wild searing red flames which forced Moira to stay within the pentagram.

“No, no, can’t let you leave until a deal is made. If you’re afraid of a little fire spreading, I’ll handle it. You could say that fire and I have a beautiful relationship.” Mercy looked at the spreading flames on the wooden floor as she reached both her hands out and then brought them together with a clap which caused the flames to disappear, leaving a slightly charred floor. 

“Th… thank you… I think?” Moira mumbled, stepping away from the edge of the pentagram, the flames lowering themselves as she went back to the center. She opened the book in her hands and flipped through the pages.

“And what is this?” Mercy flew around Moira, peeking over her shoulder at the book. Moira jumped at the sudden movement, and as her body trembled with fear, so did the open book. She held it up for the demon to see, trying and failing to steady her trembling, but jumped once again when the demon let out a laugh.

“You used a demonology book? Truly? Aren’t they rather outdated nowadays?”

“I found it on the way home from another… well, failed job interview. It was for sale, at a garage sale… thought it couldn’t hurt to try…” Moira muttered, grimacing at her own shaky voice. Seeing the book now made all the warnings came flooding back to her; she already was failing terribly just by showing fear to the demon, and she knew she would have to fight that fear if she was going to survive the summoning and get what she wanted in the end.

“Oh definitely, can’t hurt to try to summon a demon! Mortals never cease to amaze me… Why were you looking at it now? Aren’t you done with it, or am I not satisfactory enough for you?”

“I was trying to see what you said, in that, uh, language, du… duvel I think it was?”

“Oh, that book won’t tell you. I don’t speak that language that’s recorded in demonology books—I mean, I can, but all demons do, and I wanted to make myself stand out.” She took the book out of Moira’s hands, closing it and setting it back down on the table in one smooth motion, “I prefer Swiss German, or German, or just English.”

“…You’re kidding me, right?”

“No, I don’t believe I am.” Mercy said, floating back to the center of the circle, landing once again, “But, come, I tire of this conversation. Tell me what you want: Power? Money? Men?” She paused, her eyes flickering up and down as she looked Moira over quickly with a small grin on her face, “... Hm, women, perhaps?”

“U-um, well… heh-heh…” Was all Moira could answer with, a blush spreading across her cheeks.

“Just tell me, what is your desire?” Mercy held her hands out open in a friendly gesture as she waited for Moira to answer.

“My desire? Uh, none of that. Really… I just… I don’t even know if this is a good idea any longer…” Just a demon showing up, which she truly wasn’t expecting to happen, already past Moira’s comfort zone, and each conversation made her more anxious than the last—she was ready for this to end already, and just get nothing out of the summoning. She placed her right hand in her hoodie’s pocket and cupped the bottled holy water that the book had told her to get beforehand to banish any demon if things went wrong. Mercy, almost as if she sensed it, narrowed her eyes, her grin turning into a frown and her arms dropped to her sides.

“Oh? You called me for nothing… you’re wasting my time, then. I do not like mortals who waste my time, Moira…” Mercy then lifted a single arm, pointing it straight at Moira, whose eyes widened when she felt a sudden heat right behind her. The ring of red flames from the candles began inching their way closer, creating a circle that enclosed her and Mercy. She stumbled forwards, towards the demon, who floated, unmoving, in the center. Quickly, Moira grabbed the bottled holy water and pulled it out of her pocket.

“Stop this now o-or you’ll burn!” She shouted, undoing the lid of the bottle. 

Mercy laughed, “I’m not scared of that. There are only two outcomes of this situation: we can both burn or we can make a deal, your decision…” The flames grew nearer to Moira, forcing her to move closer and closer to Mercy until their bodies were touching, their chests and stomachs against each other. The warmth of the demon was different than the heat of the encroaching flames, it brought a sense of comfort that spread over Moira, replacing the flames’ heat, and she was surprised at the softness of Mercy’s body—all curves, no edges, unlike her own. It felt… nice; however, fear quickly replaced that warm, nice feeling, as the reality of her situation hit her like a train. Her hands, shaking, held the bottle tightly at her side, ready to use the holy water while Mercy had a fearless grin on her face, floating just enough off the ground so that she was taller than Moira and was able to slightly look down at her with an ‘I dare you’ look in her eyes. The two stayed like that for a moment, the flames unmoving, waiting for one of them to give an answer.

“Alright, alright, ok, just stop! Stop the fire! I don’t want to burn, please!” Moira announced, and the flames disappeared with her voice, going back to the candles.

“Me neither, actually!” Mercy answered, and her tail went to the bottom of the bottle, tipping it over and spilling the holy water onto the floor, “You also shouldn’t trust any old priest’s dirty bathwater as holy, by the way…” She snickered as she floated backward, away from Moira, who dropped the bottle onto the floor in anger, allowing it to shatter. Mercy smiled, “Don’t worry, you can trust me, no lies, no falsities…” She extended her left hand towards Moira, “Shake my hand and tell me what I need to do… make a deal with me.”

Moira looked around, thinking about how to word what she wanted. She finally looked back at the demon and stuttered, “I… I want to become the most notorious and powerful geneticist in the world…”

“So, you did know what you wanted… well, I believe that silly book there told you what I want…”

“My soul…”

“Is that a fair trade? As soon as you shake my head, you will become a grand geneticist known throughout all the lands, a power in this realm, and I will have a soul, which is a power in my realm. You ready to become equal to Mendel himself?” She nudged her hand towards Moira, whose eyes moved from the demon’s hand to the smirking demon herself, to around the room, and back to her hand. She bit her lip—no, that wasn’t the deal she wanted…

“Wait…” She muttered, pushing the hand away, and Mercy’s cheerful eyes once again turned into a glare. “I… I want to become the most powerful geneticist in the world—”

“Yes, yes, I know you’ve already—”

“But I don’t want to magically become the greatest geneticist overnight. I want to work for it—I want one of my own ideas, my own research, to make me notorious. I just need help, aid, in achieving my dreams. I want to achieve them, not have my wish granted instantaneously…” Moira crossed her arms across her, nervous at the response she was about to get. At least, she was ready for the fire, as there always seemed to be fire with this demon.

“What… what are you saying?” Mercy was shaking her head slowly, a bewildered look on her face as if Moira was speaking a language she didn’t understand. 

Moira took a deep breath before stating what she wanted in one breath without pausing, “I don’t want a deal; I want a contract. I want you to stay with me, and help me, create my theories and hypothesis into reality so that I gain notoriety the way I’ve always imagined.”

“What on Hell are you on about? You want… what you want doesn’t sound like a demon, what you want sounds like a-a science partner! This isn’t how deals go, nobody in their right mind chooses to work towards their goal instead of getting their dreams made true without even lifting a finger! Come on, let me just instantly make you a head geneticist somewhere, I get your soul, and then we never see each other again, at least, until you die…”

“I don’t want that, I don’t want to suddenly be known for something I never made or created, I want my own work to be noticed! I… I just need help making my science well-known, and I want your help with as little magic involved as possible, it’s just every time I go to show off my hypothesizes, my inventions, I get… laughed at, told how idiotic I am, that a woman my age should be focused on starting a family and not starting a career…” Moira wrapped her arms around herself as her expression dulled from the steady determination that she once had when she began her plea, “They don’t listen or understand or care about what I care about, but, together, we’ll make them care. And, um, while you stay here—" 

Mercy clenched her mouth, barring her razor-sharp teeth, as she rolled her eyes, “Truly? I must stick with you in this wretched realm until you achieve your side of the deal? That sounds awful!” 

“Are you whining? A powerful demon like you is complaining about doing some work for your soul for a change?” Moira shook her head, “I mean, we don’t have to make a contract, you know? If it’s such a problem with you…”

“Ich will deine seele!” The demon shouted as the candle’s flames erupted once again, rising, but Moira paid them no mind, focusing on the demon with a stern gaze. She did not pull her eyes away from the demon’s, even though she was terrified and wanted to run, to look away, to just accept the deal the demon’s way, but the book warned her about these fear-tactics and warned her that the demon will try to get an easy deal to basically get what was considered a ‘free soul’. Moira knew she had to stand her ground, that the demon wouldn’t harm her until it got what it wanted—at least, hopefully, it wouldn’t harm her. 

“All you have to do is make the contract with me and you still get your soul in the end! It’ll just take a little more work than you’re probably used to, but a soul is worth it, no?” Moira spoke, trying to sound as calm as possible, the book’s words repeating in her mind—don’t show fear when demanding something.

After a pause, which felt like an eternity to Moira as the heat of the flames inched closer to her flesh to the point where she began to sweat, the fire suddenly disappeared with a sharp sigh from Mercy who muttered, “Fine!”

“Fine!” Moira shouted back as she grasped the demon’s hand and shook it, but Mercy snickered when she felt the mortal’s trembling hand; however, that laughter turned into silence quickly when nothing happened.

“Uh… I need more power to make the pact, I’ve used too much of it here…”

“Really!? Maybe if you showboated less, you’d have some power left!” Moira snapped, yanking her hand away from the demon’s. “I’m not giving you my soul right now just to power the pact!”

“Imbecile, a soul would be overkill for this. I just, uh, need something else of yours… something small…” She slowly looked Moira up and down, but instead of a quick glance like before, her eyes mulled the mortal’s body over, slowing looking her up and down. Moira could feel her face heating up, and it felt like the flames from the candles were back, even though they weren’t. She knew the demon was purposefully stopping her gaze in certain… areas, which made Moira’s face flush with embarrassment and she despised how her involuntary reactions were causing the demon to smirk with glee as if this was a game. Finally, she stopped looking when her eyes landed on Moira’s orange hair, “Your hair!” She glided downwards gracefully to pick the bloodied knife up from the ground and pushed it towards Moira’s chest. “Cut it and give it to me!”

Moira took the knife in her hands, looking at the blade wide-eyed, before turning her gaze to Mercy, “Are you crazy? I’m not giving you my hair!”

“Yes, you will if you want to leave this pentagram anytime soon! Just cut it… it’s fine, it’ll grow back, it’s down past your shoulders anyway, it’ll look much nicer once cut if you ask me…” She spoke while slowly floating around Moira, her tail gently twirling itself around Moira’s long hair.

“Stop that!” Moira shouted, pushing Mercy’s tail away from her hair. The demon pouted in response, before stopping her flying in front of Moira once again. Moira grabbed her hair in her hands, looking at it before looking back at Mercy, “What do I get—”

“You’re not the demon in this situation.” Her voice quickened, “Want to stay here forever? Want to never get what you desire? Want to be cursed for the rest of your life because you left a summoning without making a pact with me? No? Didn’t think so.” She narrowed her eyes, her mouth twitching into a half smile as her voice returned to normal speed, “You get your contract out of this, out of cutting your hair. Isn’t that worth it? A one-time chance with a demon, versus your hair, which grows back…” Suddenly, her expression turned cheerful as she said in almost a sing-song tone, “Now, take that knife and slice-slice already…”

“Ugh…” Moira groaned out loud, although the demon was making sense… even if Moira knew she was only in it for her soul, in the end… but, she decided that it was worth it to get her work noticed. She tightened her grip around the knife, palms beginning to whiten as she murmured, “I should get something more from the pact for doing this…”

“That isn’t how this works. Get that through your thick skull already—you just lucked out with this contract, I felt generous and decided to help you achieve your dreams or whatever lame ideas you were talking about, but you will never, ever, be in a position where you can make demands again…” Mercy sneered as she watched Moira take all her hair in her left hand and, using the knife, cut it close to the back of her head, leaving no hair hanging down. 

Moira stared at the bright-orange hair in her hand, amazed at just how far she has gone already to get what she wanted, from cutting her palm and now her hair, she couldn’t help but wonder what else she was going to have to give up before achieving her dreams. Her thoughts were cut short when Mercy snatched the cut hair from Moira’s grasp. The demon smirked a wild smirk as the strands of hair in her gloved hand lit on fire, burning away into nothing.

“Ah… I feel amazing…” Mercy sighed in relief, her flaming black hair seemed larger in size than it was, and she reached her hand out once again, offering a handshake to Moira, “Now, that deal… or contract, as you call it… I’ll stay with you, here, on Earth… until you become a powerful geneticist known far and wide.”

“Yes, and ONLY when I say I’ve achieved my dreams when I become a notorious geneticist in my eyes, the contract is complete, and you may… you may have my soul and leave… deal?” 

“Deal.”

Moira grasped her hand and felt heat surrounding her as she began to lift off the ground with Mercy. The two were entered into a swirling vortex of flames, very similar to the one that Mercy came in; however, the vortex wasn’t close to Moira nor Mercy, and the two seemed to be floating in the ‘eye of the storm’, as it was rather peaceful. Moira looked at the demon in front of her, who looked even more demonic than before. Her sharp, pointed wings glowed brightly with a blood-red color, matching her glowing eyes, and her black flaming hair was twice the size and swirling widely around. Her sharp pointed teeth showed once more as she smirked, saying, “Don’t stare, else you’ll be enraptured and never leave my side in Hell…” Moira adverted her eyes, but she couldn’t deny that she herself felt just as different as Mercy looked. The loose strands of what was left of her hair were whipping around her face like there was a breeze and she felt as light as a feather and, for once since summoning Mercy, she felt cool and calm. She felt as though she could do anything as if she could lift the heaviest boulder in the world, talk her way out of anything, almost as if she could take the whole world in her hands and crush it. She thought to herself that this must be what a god feels… no, what the devil himself feels. Slowly, the two floated down to the ground, the flames around them vanishing, including the ones on the candles as the darkness of the room enveloped the two of them. Mercy’s wings and eyes had stopped glowing and Moira blinked a few times, adjusting to the sudden lack of light. She held onto the demon’s hand tightly, as it felt like the only thing that was keeping her grounded, keeping her from floating away, keeping her tied to reality. She opened her mouth to speak, as she had so many questions still, but all she could muster was a breathless “Holy shit…”

As Moira’s senses and own mortality began to slowly come back to her, the demon’s voice sliced through the silence, and a warmth washed over Moira once again as she heard the demon say, “And it only gets better from here.”


	2. In Which an Interview Is Had

Moira clenched her eyes tighter as the light from the window that overlooked her bed invaded and interrupted her sleep. Her eyes flickered open as she stayed in bed, debating about getting up and if it was worth it, but the sun wouldn’t let her get back to sleep so she sat up in her bed with a groan. Groggily, she rubbed her eyes, wiping away the sleepiness from them. She pulled the lilac blankets away from her body and stood, yanking the curtains closed, hiding the streets of Ireland below and, most importantly, the sun. She then staggered her way from her tiny bedroom to the attached hallway, yawning as she headed towards the bathroom on the opposite side. Once in the bathroom she grabbed the towel on the nearby towel rack and hung it up over the shower curtain. She turned the water on, letting it get warm as she stripped her clothes off and got into the shower. When the water splashed onto her body she quickly moved to the back of the shower, away from the water, which was bone-chilling cold. Reluctantly, she reached through the chilling water and grabbed the handle, turning the heat up more; however, the water only got slightly warmer, still chilling her body, which was now shivering. Quickly, she yanked the handle all the way up to the hottest setting and, finally, she could feel some warmth, but still not the hot shower that she usually took in the morning.

She looked up at the showerhead muttering, “Stupid shower must be broken…” Slowly she began relaxing back into the spraying water as her body began to get used to the temperature. She closed her eyes and let the droplets roll down her body, a small smile crossing her face as she leaned her head back and let the water splash her face. She brought her hands up to run her fingers through her hair but physically flinched as she brought her hands back down in shot, taking a step away from the water, “Wait… it’s… it’s so short… why is it so short?” She reached back up, trying to find the strands of her long hair, but none were found. She let out a groan again, feeling a headache coming on as she began rubbing her temples, staring down at her feet and the shower floor. “What happened yesterday? I…” She paused, eyebrows furrowed, “Wait, no. Did that happen? It wasn’t a dream?”

“No, it wasn’t.” A voice echoed in the bathroom as Moira slowly looked up to see the demon from yesterday who was resting her head on the top of the curtain rod, smiling down at Moira with her sharp white teeth. “You look good! I’d join you but uh, water and I don’t mix.”

In one swift movement she grabbed the towel and pulled it down from the curtain rod and wrapped it around her body, hiding it from the demon as her face began to turn red in color. “Can you not?” She scowled. 

“Not what?” The demon asked, staying put. She tilted her head slightly, her fiery black hair reaching up and almost touching the ceiling, causing Moira to wonder if it could catch the building on fire. 

Moira gestured with her free hand, the other keeping the towel around her, “This,” She made a circular shape with her hand, “is private! Do you know what privacy is? Do demons have that? Is that a… uh, a known word in your demon language?”

“Privacy?” Mercy laughed, “You and I are connected in ways beyond your imagining. Privacy between us is not a thing, at least, the longer we stay together, the more privacy you lose. It isn’t my fault you forgot about me—which, by the way, hurts—we’re bonded together. Even more than most demons since you wanted me to stay here with you.” 

Moira paled, frowning at Mercy’s response, “Bonded? So… me asking you to stay, to help, it’s making us… closer together? That’s not comforting to know.”

Mercy nodded, “That’s the basics of it. Like, now, I know where you are always, later, well, I should be able to sense your thoughts or emotions. Oh, you get some stuff, too, I think.” She shrugged, “I don’t really know what you get, to be honest with you, demons don’t tend to stick around, we’re kind of like human dads in that way.”

"How do you even know that?" Moira inquired.

"Eh, it's a well-known thing about this realm."

“My headache is worse now, thanks…” 

Mercy watched as Moira held her head in her hand, rubbing her forehead. The demon's smile disappeared as she rolled her eyes, “Here, come here,” She said, reaching down to touch Moira’s head. When her hand was hit by the streams of water, she jerked it back before slowly, while gritting her teeth, forced it back through the water to rest her hand on the other’s head. Steam was floating off her hand as her eye twitched and her body tensed, but she kept it there.

“What are you—” Moira stopped midsentence as the headache disappeared in an instance. 

Mercy pulled her hand back quickly, shaking it while her body relaxed once more, “I don’t want you to think that this being bonded thing is going to be completely awful.” She tapped her nail against the curtain rod, looking away from Moira, “I mean, I want your soul, in the end. I need to make sure you’re alright, that you stay alive until I get what deserve.” Mercy smiled, glancing her way again, “You could say I’m your guardian angel!”

“An angel? You’ll never be that, you’re anything but a guardian angel…” Moira mocked, but she was thankful that her headache was gone, even though she disapproved of the method used. “Now, get out! I want to finish showering in peace…” She pointed to where the bathroom door was.

“But I’m protecting you—”

“From what?” 

“Hm? Aren’t there like, uh, serial killers who attack women in their showers?”

“Leave!” Moira shouted as she began splashing water at the demon who hissed in response, flying away from the shower and leaving the room quickly to get away from the water.

Moira watched her leave, resting her back against the wall as the water splashed against her body, “Finally, some peace and quiet…” However, the shower wasn’t as peaceful as Moira thought it’d be as she instantly started to worry what Mercy might be doing in her living room—wrecking it? Having all her demon friends over? Setting it on fire? The shower was short-lived as she jumped out, dried off quickly, and threw her clothes on before she rushed into the living room. The aftermath of yesterday hit her hard: the blood, the smothered candles with their dried wax on the floor, the bloody knife; however, her eyes quickly went to some new items in her home, things she had never seen before.

“What is this?” Moira questioned, walking over to one of her bookshelves which she had pulled against the wall before beginning her summoning. The bookshelf, which, usually, had books on it, now had items such as different colored crystals, blackened rocks, candles, and even a skull. The bookshelf’s old contents were thrown onto the floor, some books haphazardly opened to pages that were being crumpled under the cover’s weight. Mercy poked her head up from where she was laying on the couch, looking at Moira with a bored expression.

“Ohh, yeah, that… I wanted this place to feel homier for me if I’m staying here!”

“No, no-no, this is not going to work!” Moira shouted as she began picking up each book, trying to straighten the pages that were crumpled.

“Why not?” Mercy whined, jumping up from the couch and flying over to Moira swiftly.

Moira threw her empty hand towards the skull, the books cradled under her other arm, “There’s a skull on my bookshelf! Where books are supposed to go! You know, fancy, big, expensive science books from my university days, not skulls! Not crystals! Not rocks! But mainly, not skulls! No skulls in this household unless they’re mine or on a book!”

Mercy smiled, taking one of Moira’s books from her arm and holding it up above her head, floating up so Moira couldn’t reach it, “It’s fine, no one is going to miss his head anyway.” She joked, smiling.

“Stop that!” She yelled, jumping to try to get the book back. When it proved futile she stopped, tapping her foot on the floor as she barred her teeth at Mercy, “Get your shit off my shelf, you are not living here, you’re not a guest here, you are here to get me what I want. Nothing more. You are nothing more, understood?”

“Is that really what you want? Is that how you feel?” Mercy growled back, her hair was waving more wildly than before and seemed to be larger in size as she stared Moira down. The book in her hand exploded in flames, burning away to ash, causing Moira to grab her wing and pull her down to her level.

“You bi—" Just as she opened her mouth to yell at Mercy her phone began ringing. She looked towards the sound, finding it on a nearby coffee table, and went to pick it up, placing the books down gently as she read what was on the screen. The anger dropped off her face quickly as she let go of her cellphone and it fell to the ground. “Oh my god I’m late—I forgot; I can’t believe I forgot!” She was muttering incoherent words as Mercy watched Moira zip into her bedroom and come out with a black coat half-buttoned up over her pajama shirt. She jumped a few times while trying to pull her black slacks on over her boxer briefs.

Mercy observed her curiously, the wild flames of her hair slowing down as she tilted her head, “What is happening?”

“I’m late for a job interview at a business nearby! There’s job offers for labs there, or even investments if you have good experience… I’ve been on this waitlist forever…” She muttered, pulling a yellow tie out of her coat closet and buttoning up her coat as she began putting the tie on.

Mercy swooped down to pick the cellphone up from the floor, handing it to Moira. “You know, being late to interviews miiiiight be the reason why you don’t have a job… that or wearing a suit over your pajamas… or not drying your hair… or—”

Moira turned towards her while she patted her hair down and grabbed the phone, placing it in her pant pocket. “Stop! Stop talking and just—ah, stay! Hear me? You stay right there, and no more skulls, or crystals, or changing anything!”

Mercy glanced around her as Moira began to leave. She followed the woman to the door, “Yeah that’s not going to happen… I’m going to come; I want to see how well you do in this interview. It’ll help me help you in the end.”

Moira sighed, opening the front door of her apartment, “Oh, come on, you can’t come! The second they see you I’m dead, gone, labeled a demon summoner that is to be executed at once by some demon hunters!”

Mercy floated right in front of Moira's face, “Uh, wow, you really don’t know how my powers work huh? People won’t see me, they won’t hear me, unless I want them to see and hear me. Only you will be able to see and hear me. I’ll be invisible, so don’t worry about me, worry about yourself!”

“I’m not going to win this argument, am I?” Moira uttered, “Go on, let's leave…”

“Yes!” Mercy gleamed, as she flew through the opened door.

“I’m going to regret this…” Moira muttered to herself before closing the door and locking it.

The two walked down the streets of Ireland, well, one walked, the other floated. Moira had her arms wrapped around herself from the chilly air as only a few people were out and about because of the cold that day. Mercy floated behind her, looking around at everything with sparkling eyes, and Moira couldn’t help but keep glancing behind at the demon.

“What?” Mercy finally asked Moira, hands on her hips.

“Just making sure you’re staying out of trouble. I don’t need you bringing home another skull or anything.” She said, continuing quickly across an empty street.

“I didn’t get that skull from here,” Mercy scoffed, placing a hand on her chest and holding her head high in the air, “I am cultured, after all.” She began glancing around once again at the small shops and tiny cafes as well as looking at the large towering buildings and the few flowers and trees that stayed in bloom during the cold, “I’m just taking in the sights. I haven’t really looked around this realm in a while; a lot of stuff has changed while some stuff hasn't, but all of it is different from where I live.”

“Less fire I imagine?” Moira teased, coming to a large brown building that spread across three lots.

“Oh indeed, and much quieter and less chaotic. It’s downright awful here if I do say so myself.” Mercy replied, watching as Moira walked through the large glass doors and followed her, “Is this it?”

“Yep, only twenty minutes late… hope they let me see the boss still.” Moira muttered before heading straight to the front desk, which spread across the whole back wall. The other half of the room had cushioned chairs, televisions, vending machines, and magazines on small end tables that were scattered throughout the room. There was only one other woman in the whole building, a secretary who sat behind the large desk, typing away at her computer. Moira went up to her, and the secretary glanced towards her before going back to typing.

“Name?”

“Moira O’Deorain.”

The secretary typed on her computer, sighing before gesturing with her hand towards the many chairs, “Looks like we can squeeze you in, even if you’re a bit late. Lucky you. Take a seat and I’ll tell my boss that you’re here...”

Moira sat down while Mercy circled around her head, looking around the rectangular room, “This place looks worse than Hell. Are you sure you want whatever they’re offering?” She asked.

“Yes, I’m sure,” Moira answered back, but when she noticed the secretary look over at her with a risen eyebrow, she smiled and picked up one of the magazines, holding it open close to her face. “This can help jumpstart my career.” She spoke quietly to Mercy. 

“Jumpstart? That’s what I’m doing, we don’t need this guy’s help!” Mercy sighed, plopping down in a seat next to Moira, legs resting over one side of the chair, tail wrapped around Moira’s shoulders as Moira glared out of the corner of her eye, the tip of the demon’s tail hitting her in the face.

“If he can give us a job, or even direct us to someone who can, that’s a step closer to our goal,” Moira said, reaching to grab the tail with one hand and hold it still.

Mercy sighed dramatically, picking up one of the magazines, holding it sideways as she flipped through the pages about how to lose weight and what were some people’s favorite desserts. “Waiting is boring—offices are boring… we need a job with adventure! Action! Death! Romance! Maybe not in that order.”

Moira shook her head, “Any job is good… but, honestly, the safer the job the better.”

“Come on, live a little! You summoned a demon for hell’s sake, you aren’t ready for some boring safe office job…” Mercy snapped back. 

“Ahem.” Both women looked up to see the secretary, who was standing before them. She wasn’t staring at Moira but instead was staring directly at Mercy with wide eyes, and Moira could feel her blood chill and her heart stop as she thought that the secretary could see the demon. Even Mercy looked a little nervous as she didn’t match the secretary’s eyes, instead choosing to look at the floor.

“Is… that… magazine floating?” The secretary asked.

“Uh…” Moira looked over to Mercy, who glanced over at Moira and grimaced as she reached over and snatched the magazine away from her. “It’s a… uh, a new project I’m doing with… magnets…” She smiled as the secretary glanced towards her.

“You’re bad at lying.” Mercy whispered as though the secretary could hear her. 

“Magnets… right, alright. Um, he will see you now. The elevator is in the back, the stairs are on the right, he’s on floor three, room two-eight-two. Thank you for waiting, I hope you he likes your… magnet experiment.” She went back to her desk after speaking to them and both Moira and Mercy sighed deeply, unknowingly holding their breath throughout that whole exchange. The two stood and went to the elevator, Moira hit the button for the third floor and once the elevator closed, she glanced at Mercy.

“I thought they couldn’t see you!”

“Well,” Mercy muttered, crossing her arms in front of her, not looking at Moira, “She didn’t SEE me, she saw the magazine. That’s different. They can’t see or feel me or anything, but uh… if I pick up something then it looks like it’s just floating in midair. I kind of forgot that happens.”

Moira facepalmed, shaking her head, “Just, be more careful, alright?”

Mercy saluted, “Sir, yes, sir!” Then laughed. “It’s fine, you worry too much…” Their conversation ended once the elevator doors opened. 

They made their way through a long, plain corridor to the office the secretary told them to go to. They knocked, and a gruff voice answered, “Come in!” Once they entered, Moira glanced around; the office had a large window overlooking the streets below and in front of the window was a sizable oak desk with a huge leather chair which an older man sat in. Bookshelves and fancy paintings in golden frames decorated the sides and walls of the room, respectively. Two smaller seats, like the ones in the waiting room, were in front of the desk and he gestured towards one of the seats. Moira sat down as Mercy sat in the other next to her, putting her hoof-like feet up on his desk. Moira glared at her from the corner of her eyes, but Mercy just gave her a smile, shrugging.

“Can’t see me, so why does it matter? Don’t say anything or look this way, else he’ll think you’re weird! I’m just a fly on the wall, here to evaluate what we need to work on!” Mercy said, sliding down in the chair, getting comfortable.

Moira looked back at the man, taking her advice, “Hello I’m—”

“Yes, yes, I know who you are, I know your credentials, I know your past work experience. Don’t waste time with that or handshakes or any volunteer work, just move on to what you want from me and what I want from you, Ms. O’Deorain.” He straightened a stack of papers in front of him as he looked at her with raised eyebrows.

“Um,” Moira stuttered, twiddling her hands, the sweat beginning to form on her forehead, “So… I have an idea—”

“An idea? AN IDEA?” The older man laughed a loud barrel-laugh, placing his hands on his stomach, “Do you know how many kids come in here saying they have an idea—an original idea, never heard before—but they don’t have nothing beyond just an idea! I’d think a woman of your age would be better; guess not!”

Moira bit her lip, clasping her hands together in her lap, “Well, no! It’s a hypothesis, um, I’m a geneticist and I hypothesized what if… what if we, or I, can change one’s DNA around to enhance their bodies or even gain new abilities, like uh, turning invisible! Or um, recreating DNA to save someone or, um…” She stopped when the man in the leather seat hadn’t stopped snickering at her.

“But that? That’s all hypothesis, no? Show me.”

“Show you?” She questioned

“Show me your work, show me what you’ve done, or accomplished, or an example of this gene altering that you’re talking of.”

“Well, see, I haven’t actually been able to do that because I don’t have a job yet that allows me to work on my hypothesis, or even an investment to buy the supplies I need, which is what I’m hoping to gain from this meeting. Or even, um, you could maybe put in a good word for me somewhere?”

“You don’t have any work to show? I thought you had something done before coming here!” Mercy hissed, sitting up straight in her chair. Moira glanced at her before turning back to him.

“I… I’ve done some of the calculations at home on paper and I’m close—"

Again, he laughed at her, placing a hand on his forehead, “I don’t give investments to someone with crazed ideas that are worth nothing. Haven’t you ever heard of ‘show your work’? Sweetheart, maybe it’s time you hang your pretty little genetics degree on the wall and call it a day, huh? That biological clock’s ticking, maybe look for a wealthy husband to take care of you? Because…” He reached into one of his desk’s drawers and pulled out a stack of 500 notes in both hands, “there’s no way you’re ever going to hold this much money in your hand’s unless it’s your husband’s, got it?” He slammed the notes down onto the desk, smirking at Moira.

Moira’s lower lip trembled, “But, I… I know what I’m doing, and I can do the research! I know I don’t have anything to show of it but—”

“Hush that pretty mouth, I’ve already heard enough. I’m not giving you a job or investing in your so-called work.” He waved her off, “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”

Moira stared at him with unbelieving eyes, but they quickly narrowed in his direction, mouth slightly agape, her hands clenching so hard her own fingernails began digging into her palms. “Why you—” She growled, but stopped when she saw Mercy gliding behind him, resting her arms around his shoulders. The demon’s wings flapped slowly as her tail flicked back and forth the full length behind her.

“What were you saying? I told you to leave.” He grumbled at her, turning an eye her direction.

Mercy had a calm expression, all but her mouth showed any hint of anger, her jaw clenched tightly, teeth barred in a half-smile, half growl. “What should we do to this man hm? He’s rather annoying, and deserves something for treating us the way he did…” She spoke coaxingly.

“What?” Moira asked.

“Did you not hear me?” He answered her question, “I said go!”

“Want to burn him alive?” The demon’s face lit up, a smile appearing on her face, excited by her own idea.

“No!” Moira shouted as she finally understood what Mercy was getting at.

The man sighed, shaking his head, “Must I get security for you? Come on, be a good little girl and do as you’re told.”

Moira’s eyes darted to him, glaring, and then back to Mercy, who was resting her chin against his head as she spoke, “How about his hair? Can we burn it? It’s ugly anyhow, we’d probably be doing him a service!”

Moira shook her head ‘no’ slightly, trying not to draw the man’s attention to her as she slowly began to stand, eyes on Mercy the whole time.

“There you go, I’m glad you’re listening to me as you should. Learn that skill and you’ll get a husband quickly!” He smiled, crossing his legs as he leaned on his desk, resting his chin against his hand. Moira’s gaze trailed away from both the man and Mercy and went down to where he had put the stack of notes. Mercy’s eyes followed her gaze and she showed a devilish grin as her head shot up and she clapped delightfully.

“Oh, his money! That’s so evil, I love it! Want to set it aflame? Just say the word and I'll do it!”

Moira stood in silence for a few heartbeats, one arm wrapped around the other, as she glanced from Mercy, the man, and the notes. Her lips trembled as she spoke, “Yes.”

The older man smiled at her response, but Mercy’s smile was larger than his, as she flew over to Moira, wrapping her tail around the mortal affectionally. “Good girl.” He said to her, believing she was agreeing with his previous statement. As Moira turned around, she closed her eyes, ready for what was about to happen. She held her hand on the doorknob, knuckles white, and as soon as she opened the door, she heard a single snap of Mercy’s fingers, the bundle of notes lighting up in flames and, subsequently, the man’s oak desk. He let out a scream and then she heard what sounded like him falling backward out of his chair. Moira opened her eyes, a smile gracing her lips, “You should learn your place when around me…” and with that, the pair left, walking to the staircase, deciding it was quicker than the elevator, Mercy cackling behind her the whole way. Once in the stairwell she couldn’t help but join the demon, both women laughing loudly at what had transpired, what they did, as they hurriedly left the building all the while laughing in glee. Once on the streets, they ignored the strange looks that the few people out gave Moira and they ignored the firefighter truck that passed them quickly, sirens blaring. 

“Come on,” Moira said, turning around to look at Mercy, taking the demon’s hand into hers and pulling her along playfully, “Let’s get breakfast and brainstorm what we should do next, and most importantly, let’s forget that guy’s nonsense!”

Mercy let her pull her along, walking on the street with Moira, still breaking out in laughter, “He got what he deserved. But I'm definitely right, a boring office job is not for you!" 


	3. In Which Angela Makes Her Appearance

The pair made their way to a small building with a grey stone exterior. Moira swung open the door, a bell chiming as she walked into the café with delight still on her face. She made sure to hold the door open just long enough for Mercy to quickly float in. The demon circled around Moira, looking around at the building with a careful gaze. The interior was an elongated building with rustic and wooden fixtures, scratched flooring and old wooden tables with old, black metallic chairs. The left side of the building had a wooden bar, while the right side had a few tables. Moira sat down at one of the tables near a window as a waiter dropped off a menu for her. Mercy floated above the table, glancing around, looking uncomfortable.

“Uh… we can’t really talk here. It’s too public.” The demon muttered, the tip of her tail pressing Moira’s chin up to look at her.

Her smile changed to a frown, “Oh, right… well, we can just leave…” She said in a whisper, “I have eggs in the fridge at home and… wait, what day is it? They might be expired.”

“You’re a more of a mess than my usual summoners.” Mercy chided her as she floated towards the ground, sighing, “We don’t have to leave. I have a spell that’ll allow us to talk freely, just wait there for a few minutes, alright? And don’t answer me, you’re already getting weird glances.”

Moira watched as the demon flew away from her to the woman’s bathroom in the back of the room. Moira ground her teeth together when she watched her open and close the bathroom door, remembering what Mercy had said earlier about how mortals can see her interacting with real-world objects. True to her word, she saw a man who was sitting facing the bathroom door, which, as soon as it opened and closed by itself, he looked at his drink curiously and set it down on the table he sat at before calling the waiter over for a glass of water instead. She tried to bring her attention back to the menu, but she couldn’t help but glance over it every second, wondering what Mercy was doing, wondering if the place was going to explode in flames at any moment. Finally, after a few more moments of waiting in silence, Moira stood from her chair, ready to go check on her, but the door opened before she could even leave the table and out came a human woman. She had blonde hair that was pulled back in a purposely messy ponytail and her attire was the opposite of what Mercy wore—the woman had on a white, sleeveless top with a short orange skirt and black heels. Moira’s mouth hung open as she made her way over to Moira. The man facing the bathroom did a double-take, watching as she passed his table and looked, wide-eyed, at the water that the waiter had just given him before shaking his head and resting it against the table. The other woman sat down at Moira’s table, gesturing for her to take a seat, which she did. The blonde leaned her elbows against the table, placing her chin on her hands, “Like what you see?” She smiled, crossing her legs, the skirt hitching up as she giggled.

“M…Mercy?” She gaped, sitting forward in her seat to look at her. She couldn’t keep her eyes from wandering to her legs, but she quickly sat back in her seat and covered her face with her hands, hiding the blush that was starting to appear.

“You won’t find any ‘mercy’ here—I go by Angela…” She glanced around before leaning in closer to Moira, whispering to her, “This form uses a lot of power to maintain; I’ll need to refuel at home—”

“Nooo,” Moira groaned softly, grabbing what was left of her hair, “No more hair, please.”

Angela looked at Moira like she was an idiot, “I can’t use your hair anymore.” She spoke in a low voice, “I’d need something new, something you haven’t given someone before, but let’s just discuss it later. I don’t need it right now.” She sat back up straight in the chair, keeping her legs crossed, “Now, what should our next plan of attack be? You obviously need some more research, something that works, to show to the next job interview you attend… if we ever get invited to one again.”

Moira rolled her eyes, “I have research finalized down to one singular formula, just… it isn’t perfect, yet.”

“You mean it isn’t finished, yet.” Angela corrected, “Say it as it is…”

Moira narrowed her eyes at that comment, “I’m close, I know I am. I’m close to getting to the correct formula to change one’s DNA so that they can utilize a form of invisibility and—I’m sorry, I have to ask, but why blonde?” She pointed at the other’s hair; an eyebrow cocked.

Angela shrugged before placing her hands in her lap as she leaned against the chair’s back, “Blondes have more fun.” She said with a grin.

“Of course, I should’ve known you’d choose something so simple. How are you going to help me, again? Do you even know any calculations, scientific formulas, or—” The conversation came to a pause as their waiter came over to the two women.

“Are you ready to order?” She asked, holding a notebook and glancing at Angela before looking back at Moira.

“A full Irish with a cup of tea, please,” Moira said, handing her the menu.

“Alright, and for you?” She turned towards Angela.

“Something hot.” She replied, unable to hide her irritated tone of voice, her eyes not straying from Moira.

“…Hot as in spicy or temperature-wise?” The waiter asked, placing a hand on her hip. In response, Moira brought the palm of her hand to her forehead, sighing at the exchange.

“Both,” Angela spoke in a near growl.

The waitress leaned back a bit and muttered to Moira, “She’s a cheery one, eh? Definitely a keeper.” Moira shot up straight from her comment, laughing nervously, a blush spreading across her face again.

“Heh, heheh, no, no, it’s not like that at all, um, you see—aaaand she’s gone.” The waiter was already leaving their table to take another order. Still with a nervous grin on her face, Moira turned her attention to Angela, “Can you act normal?” She spoke through clenched teeth.

“I’m sorry,” Angela spoke sarcastically, her human-colored blue eyes burning into Moira, “But I really didn’t like you insulting my intelligence. I’ve been to every continent here, I’ve met and dealt with leaders, heroes, villains, the rich, and the poor, and helped all of them achieve their dreams, I’ve dealt with the rise and fall of art, technology, religion, and, for fun, I journey through the Nine Circles. Don’t call me simple.”

The man, who had rested his head against the table after seeing a woman walk out of a previously empty bathroom, stood up after hearing that comment, dropped a ton of money on his table, and left the café while holding his head. Moira bit her lip, “Shush!” She tried to keep her voice down as she raised her eyebrows at Angela, hoping she would be quieter.

“What? ‘Shush’? I don’t know what that means—I’m simple, remember? As you said, I know not of mathematics, of formulas, research.” Angela placed one hand on the table with a loud ‘thud’ as she leaned across to where Moira was, grabbing the collar of her suit and pulling her up out of her seat, closer to her. They were so close that Moira could feel the other’s hot breath against her own face. For a split second, Moira could’ve sworn the demon’s attributes were returning, her teeth turned from dull to sharp and pointy and what looked like black horns began to pierce through the skin on her forehead, but Angela’s eye twitched and her demonic attributes went away as quickly as they showed themselves. She jolted Moira’s head to the side, almost pressing her lips to the other’s ear as Moira’s own lips began to tremble and tingle with uncontrollable excitement from the other woman taking control of her. “There’s a reason Hell picked me to help you, and it’s because I’m the smartest demon around. While I might not know what you want until I commune with you, He does, and He handpicks us to aid you, mortals, in your dumb plights. So, don’t question me. Ever. Again.” She let go of her, sitting back down in her seat and crossing her legs once again.

Moira stayed still for a few moments, dazed by the demon’s actions. She sat back down, nodding slowly, “I’ll… be more considerate next time.” She watched as the waiter came back to their table and placed a cup of tea in front of her, Moira muttering a “Thank you,” before she left. She then poured a large amount of honey into the drink and took a sip, holding the cup near her lips.

“You like a lot of honey, huh?” Angela said, eyes still narrowed, arms wrapped around her as she glowered at Moira.

“Yes, I do.”

“Alright, _honey_ …” Angela mocked.

Moira clenched her jaw, glaring back, “Don’t call me that…” She placed the cup down on the table, sighing, her expression relaxing, “I really need to get this invention finished, my money… well, it’s running a bit thin.”

“Then how are you going to pay for this?” Angela asked, the annoyance still dripping in her voice. As if the waiter had heard her, she came back with their platters, placing a large breakfast in front of Moira and just a couple of scrambled eggs with bits of red in them in front of Angela. She filled their waters back up and left as Angela, carefully, pushed her glass of water away with a single finger, a fearful expression replacing her annoyed look.

“Credit,” Moira muttered, mouth already full of eggs and sausage.

“Credit? That doesn’t sound smart.” Angela replied flatly, looking a little concerned as she watched Moira engulf her breakfast like she hadn’t eaten in a year.

“It isn’t, but it’s all I have.” Moira managed to mutter between bites.

“Do we need money?” Angela asked, turning her attention to her own eggs, poking them with her finger before sliding the dish away from her as well.

Moira wiped her mouth with a napkin, “It would make a lot of stuff easier…”

“Well, what about family or parents or shit like that, or, what, did you kill them?” The other finally looked interested, looking back up at Moira, waiting for the answer with bright eyes.

Moira laughed hard, “Family? Parents? Hah! Yeah, right. No, no, we don’t get along.” She waved the question off.

“Ohh, why? Did you kill them?”

“No—uh—what is wrong with you? Stop asking that!” Moira took a sip of her tea, looking down at the liquid inside the small cup, smile fading, “No, they’re just… everything that I’m not.”

“Wow,” Angela muttered, leaning on the table, looking at Moira, “There’s a lot to unwrap in that one sentence and I’m not touching any of it with a twenty-inch pole.”

Moira stayed silent for a few moments; her gaze fixated on her drink. Finally, she sighed, placing the drink down with a clink. “Just… out of curiosity… were they right one that one thing? If there’s… demons…” She whispered the last word before her tone went back to normal, “is there a Heaven? Angels?”

Angela laid her chin against the table, looking at Moira as she traced her finger against the wood ingrain, “Uh, I mean, if there is, I’ve never been there or interacted with anyone from there for obvious reasons, and neither will you, since your soul belongs to me, so what’s it matter?”

“You’re right, you’re right, best not to think about it…” Moira muttered, picking her fork up to play with her food.

Angela watched her before lifting her head up a bit, “Are you alright?”

“Hm?” Moira glanced her way, “Oh, yeah, just not hungry anymore…” She looked back down at her plate.

Angela sat back up in her chair as silence fell between the two of them. Moira continued playing with her food and Angela began twirling a loose strand of hair around her finger, looking around for a bit before raising her hand in the air, “Miss Waiter, can we get more napkins and a… a feather—no, pen, I mean, pen, yes, uh, now!” The waiter looked at them curiously as she brought over the asked for supplies, setting them down in front of Angela.

Angela winked, “Don’t expect this in your tip though, sweetie…” the waiter, grumbling some incoherent words, walked away from them. “Alright,” Angela pushed the napkins and pen towards Moira, “Show me!”

“Show you what?” Moira looked at her quizzically.

“The formula! What you have, at least, of the DNA altering invisibility thing that you’ve been working of.”

“Here?”

“Yeah, I want to see what you got!”

Moira decided to entertain her, at least it was something to take her mind off of her family. She picked the pen up and marked down the start of the complex formula that she had figured out by herself, “This is all I’ve got so far… what are you doing?” Moira asked as she watched Angela slide her chair—to the point where it screeched against the floor—next to her.

“Helping!” She said, triumphantly, leaning closer to Moira.

She pulled back instinctively, “Um…” She murmured.

Angela looked at the problem carefully before reaching over to grab the pen, which Moira still had in her left hand, taking the other’s hand into her own. “Here, what if you change this around… and add here…”

Moira let her maneuver her hand and the pen around on the napkin. At first, she averted her eyes away from the napkin and Angela, looking at the floor while rubbing her cheek with her free hand; however, when she glanced back at the napkin, she was amazed at the work Angela had done, as she already surpassed the part where she was stuck at and was halfway finished with the formula. Angela paused, clicking her tongue against her teeth as she let go of Moira’s hand.

“Uh…” She mumbled, staring at the work she had done, “Doesn’t it look right? But, the next part… I don’t know, but if we get this formula finished, we can eventually test it and publish it and make money, yeah?”

“That… yeah, I didn’t even think about altering the signs like that, but it works!” Moira gasped, picking up the napkin and looking at it closer as if that would matter. She quickly placed it back down after analyzing it, picking the pen up and writing more, “What about continuing like this?”

Angela watched her work closely, pointing at a number she wrote down incorrectly, “That shouldn’t be there.”

“You’re right, thank you…” Moira muttered, continuing working on the formula. She stopped for a split-second to say, in almost a whisper, “I’m sorry for not thinking you were up for this…”

Angela grinned, “Don’t apologize, it doesn’t matter now to me, the time has passed. But, uh…” She scratched her cheek, glancing away, “I guess I’m sorry too, for getting so upset…”She then raised her hand up again, “Can we get another pen?” Angela asked, out loud, before speaking to Moira, “I’ll work on my own form of the formula; between the two of us, maybe we can get this finished here!”

“Maybe so, maybe so…” Moira said, excitement dripping in her voice as the waiter brought over another pen and Angela began working on her own napkin.


	4. In Which a Job Is Offered

“It’s closing time, you need to leave.” The waiter remarked at the two women who were still sitting at the same table in the same café surrounded by crumpled napkins all marked with ink.

Moira looked up, her hair a mess from her running her hand through it countless times. “It is?” She questioned, looking outside the window for the first time in hours. She was surprised to see the sun setting.

Angela jumped up out of her chair, arms on her hips, glaring at the waiter, “Oh yeah? And what if we stay!? We’re on a roll here!” She gestured towards the table.

The waiter began to crack her knuckles, matching her glare, yet, somehow, hers was harsher than Angela’s and somehow more demonic than hers with an included mixture of tired and not-taking-anyone’s-shit, “If you don’t leave, then I’m getting security involved—”

“Uh, she’s just kidding!” Moira intervened quickly, grabbing one of the napkins that she was working on and stuffing it in her jacket’s pocket, “We’ll be heading out now, thank you…” They had already paid for their food earlier and Angela’s unfinished (and untouched) eggs were boxed-up in a to-go box. Moira took the to-go box in her other hand, smiling at the waiter before leaving the café, pulling Angela with her.

“I bet I could’ve bribed her into letting us stay longer if you’d given me the chance!” Angela groaned, dragging her feet as Moira continued yanking her along the empty street. “We were doing some amazing work in there!”

“Bribed her with what? Between us, we have no money.”

“I have so much more than money…” Angela smirked as her eyes flashed red for a split second.

Moira stopped in her tracks and pulled her close to her, whispering harshly in her ear while shaking a finger at her, “Don’t out yourself, or me. I don’t need demon hunters after my head…”

Angela waved her off, “Honey, I’ve been at this for a while; you have nothing to worry about.” 

“Don’t call me that. Let’s just get home and finish this formula we’re working on—we’re so close to figuring it out…” Moira’s voice trailed off as she saw Angela physically flinch and in the time span of that flinch her hair burst into black flames. Angela recoiled back with a groan, away from Moira, her head hanging down, eyes clenched, as she placed her hands on both sides of her face. “What’s wrong?” Moira asked, stumbling over her words as she placed a hand on Angela’s back, softly rubbing it.

“I…” She muttered before shaking her head, her hair was back to blond, but when she stood back up straight and looked at Moira, one of her eyes was blood red and the other blue. She quickly closed her red eye, holding her head once again, “Ugh, this form’s too much; I already had limited power before using it… it’s slipping from me…” She spoke slowly.

Moira pulled her hand away, eyes wide, staring at the floor behind Angela, “Your shadow…” Angela glanced behind her, exhaling when she saw that her shadow depicted her true demonic form: wings, tail, horns, and all.

“I can’t keep this form, I need to… to change back, somewhere that isn’t public.” She looked back at Moira, fidgeting as she began looking around. 

“Alright… um, maybe a bathroom, or—” 

“There’s someone coming towards us, I hear them… they’re running here, for some reason.” Her eyes were narrowed as she looked towards an alley, hands becoming claw-like as her jaw tightened in a snarl.

“W-what?” Moira muttered, glancing to where Angela was looking.

Angela bit her lips, her sharp teeth showing themselves, “Someone is coming. I can’t be seen by them like I am, I have to hide before they get here…” She turned to Moira, giving her a half-grin, “You got this, right? I’ll be right back, promise. Just leave the area…” With that, she took a step away from Moira, and, in a swift motion, she seemingly ripped half of the air open to a bright red portal. She stepped in before Moira could eve say or do anything, anxious to leave the area before she was found out and endangered herself and Moira. 

She turned around, trying to figure out the best course of action while keeping her eyes on the alley. While trying to think of which way to go, she saw a man running towards her out of the alley. She glanced around nervously, holding the to-go box close to her chest, unsure of what to do, where to hide or go. He had already seen her, and he was much faster than she was. Was he coming to her for a reason? Did he know she summoned a demon? Her lips began to tremble and her legs buckled as he came up to her and, without saying a word, grabbed her by the sleeve of her suit and pulled her to a nearby brick wall. His hand covered her mouth, his other hand holding her there, as she shook against him, everything happening so fast that she had zero time to react. Not a few seconds later, some security guards dressed entirely in black with masks and hoods ran by them. Once they left, he let go of her with a sigh. Moira finally got to look at him: He was a muscular man with grey attire and red highlights across his outfit and a harness that wrapped around his chest and thighs. His hair was hidden by a black beanie that brought out his large brown eyes, and his face was rough, accompanied by multiple old scars and wounds. He was looking around the side of the wall before finally turning his attention to Moira, giving her an awkward smile.

“Sorry about that…” He then pointed a gloved finger at the to-go box, “Uh, is that food?” She nodded at him, slowly, “Can I have it?” 

“S-sure…” She muttered and, while shaking, gave it to him. He opened the box, pouring the scrambled eggs in his mouth, some falling to the ground without a care. “Thanks!” He said happily while chewing with a mouth full, “I haven’t eaten since the start of yesterday, hard to work on an empty stomach!”

“I… you’re welcome?” She muttered, wrapping her arms around herself as she took a step backward, gaze falling to the floor, unsure if she should run or not.

“I know it was a little bit of a surprise. Sorry for just grabbing you and throwing you over here without saying anything. Those guys, they uh, want me, for reasons. They’d probably take you in for interrogation and that would not be fun—trust me, been there, done that, not fun.” He smiled at her, scratching his neck with his free hand, “Uh, just trying to help you, promise. Just doing a job, not a bad dude or anything…”

She looked at him, unimpressed by his previous statement, “You… work with a company that makes security… or whoever that was… chase you? I don’t know if that makes you a good dude either…” 

“Hm, you got me there, but the work I do is for the greater good.” He winked at her, “I’m not really supposed to tell you, but…” He took out his wallet, showing a badge within, something called ‘Blackwatch’ engraved in gold on it. He quickly put it away, “Trust me, we’re the good guys. By the way, you know the best way out of the city with little people and shopkeepers and, most importantly, less police?”

“Y-yeah, I grew up around here…” Moira grimaced, mad at herself for telling him that, as she still wasn’t certain if she felt safe with him or not. Still, she explained the best way to leave the town, the streets that nobody worked on, the ones that even the police ignored.

“Thanks! Oh, you dropped… this…” His voice trailed off as he reached down and picked up the napkin from the café, his eyes darting to read the formula written on it. Moira narrowed her eyes, snatching the napkin away from him and stuffing it in her pocket.

“That’s mine, my research—”

“You’re a scientist!” He said, excited.

She took another step back, startled by his loud voice, “Um, geneticist, actually.” 

“We… the company I work for, Blackwatch, we’re actually looking for a scientist to fill the ranks, think you’d be interested?”

Moira looked at him with raised eyebrows as she took a step toward him, “… What’s the pay?”

He laughed, “Straight to the point, I like it! The pay is good, very good, six figures. Here,” He handed her a card with a phone number and a name on it, “Give that a call tomorrow if you’re interested, just have some work of yours to show to me and my coworkers and you’re in. All the equipment you want, experiments you can do, money you can have, and a team to back you up.” He made a phone symbol with his fingers, placing it close to his ear, “Tomorrow. Call. Otherwise, I’ll be gone, and it’ll be too late. Hope to see you again…” With that, he left quietly, like a shadow in the beckoning night. Moira stared after him and glanced down at the card in her hand. 

“Reyes huh?” She muttered to herself.

“Reyes?”

Moira jumped, turning around quickly. Standing behind her was Mercy in her demonic form, but she looked a little different. Her flaming hair was more of a wisp, her red eyes had bags under them, and her illuminated wings were duller in color and flapped slowly, unable to lift her off the ground as her tail drooped on the floor. She leaned against the brick wall, resting her head against it, glancing at what was in Moira’s hand, “What’s that?”

“A job offer,” Moira said.

“Where?”

“I’m not certain exactly, a guy gave it to me after he learned I was a geneticist.”

Mercy turned to rest her back against the wall as Moira spoke. By the time Moira had finished speaking, the demon had dug her sharp nails into the wall behind her and the wisp of her hair had blazed up, scorching the bricks, before she sighed out a breath of smoke, the flames falling back down to almost nothing. “That isn’t a job offer, that’s a pick-up line…” Moira was surprised at her rather calm and tired tone.

She laughed, shaking her head at Mercy’s outburst and statement, “No way! It… he wasn’t like that at all! He was kind of nice…” Mercy snorted as Moira continued, “He showed me his wallet, he works at someplace called Blackwatch…”

“Blackwatch? Never heard of it, probably just a front to lure pretty girls such as yourself.”

“He said I could make six figures Mercy! I think we should give it a go, and if it is some front or whatever, well, I have you to get me out of that situation, right?” She said.

“Um… don’t rely on…” Mercy’s words trailed off as her body began to slouch and she began to fall. Moira stepped in quickly to grab her, her head coming to rest against Moira’s left shoulder as she wrapped her arms around her.

“No don’t—” She stopped talking quickly after Moira grabbed her, “How…?” She muttered, lifting her head up just enough to look at Moira, “How can you hold me?”

“What?”

“You’re… I can’t control my fire like this… any mortal who touches me, well, it’d be the same as touching flames. Your hands aren’t burning? That’s impossible…” She shook her head slowly, leaning into Moira for support.

“Maybe you’re weaker than you thought? Maybe your body doesn’t even have the power to keep the flames up?”

Mercy rested her head back down, “It doesn’t matter now, we need to get home before… before my invisibility wears off—”

“That’s a possibility!?” Moira gasped.

“Very much so.”

The invisibility was keeping Moira’s head from being plastered on wanted pictures; therefore, it became imperious for her to get Mercy home before her magic wore off. Moira lifted Mercy up, carrying her bridal style back to their apartment. She made her way as quickly as she could, even though she grimaced at the thought of how awkward she must look and how her arms were already getting tired. Thankfully, their apartment wasn’t far, and she finally made it to the lobby, her arms just giving away as she made her way inside, Mercy stumbling, trying to get her footing, as Moira dropped her. “Did it wear off? The invisibility.”

“No…” Mercy managed to stand up by supporting herself against the cluster mailbox, pushing herself over to the staircase. Moira glanced at her mailbox, grimacing when she saw papers coming out of the bottom of it and the door bulging.

“Let me grab the mail, then we’ll head in.”

“Yeah, no worries, I’ll head back up and wait for you by the door…” She grimaced, forcing her wings to flap fast enough to lift her off the ground as she half-floated, half-stumbled up the stairs. 

Moira dug the apartment key out of her pocket, opening her mailbox and sighing at the piled-up mail. She dug the first paper out, seeing the words ‘IMPORTANT’ written on top of it. She already knew what it was, hands trembling as she debated about ripping it up; however, she decided to see just how bad it was. She opened the bill, which she proceeded to drop as soon as her eyes fell on the number. She banged her head against the metal boxes, the pain resonating through her, but the pain of how much she owed to keep her apartment was more. What could she do? She thought to herself; she could sell more of her furniture, but she had such a short time to pay it off before being kicked out, plus she didn’t even own enough furniture to pay off her bill. She slinked down to the floor, falling on her knees. She could call her family… no, no she couldn’t. That’d be admitting defeat. That’d be admitting they were right. “Fuck.” She muttered, taking the paper in her hands, “I need that job, it’s the only saving grace I have going for me… I have to get the formula finished and created tonight…” She stood up quickly, crumpling the bill and throwing it into the trash nearby before heading upstairs. Mercy was standing there, leaning against the wall near her apartment room door. Moira unlocked it, and Mercy quickly went to rest on the couch, throwing herself down. Moira dug around in her small kitchen, producing a box and slamming it on the table, causing Mercy to look over at her with a jump.

“We have to finish that formula tonight,” She took out a syringe from the box, “and create the serum, and inject it within me. No time for testing it…”

“What?” Mercy muttered, reaching for the TV remote and turning the small console on to an age-old sitcom about a doctor and a nurse. “Also, why do you have a box full of—you know what, don’t answer that.”

Moira looked at the TV, “I didn’t know you knew how to use a television.”

“It was easy to learn while you were asleep.”

Moira walked over and stood in front of the TV, hands on her hips as Mercy tried to peer around her. “We have to finish the formula so that I can get the job that this Reyes offered me!” She threw her hands up, “Do you understand? There are some dire consequences on the line here if I don’t get this job,” She crossed her arms, sighing, “we’ll be homeless.”

“What?”

“Homeless, didn’t you hear!? Stop watching TV and listen to me!” Moira grabbed the remote from the demon and turned the television off, which caused Mercy to sigh dramatically and throw herself on her back, arms under her head.

“So, we need money and to get said money we have to get everything you just said done by tonight.”

“Yes.”

“And we can’t get any help from your family?”

“Not an option.”

“What about friends?”

“I… uh, I don’t have any. Not anymore, at least.”

“Hm, I mean, who really needs friends when you can have blood pacts? Speaking of blood pacts,” Mercy turned her head to look at Moira, “I am a demon. We don’t have to do any of this work, I can just make this invisibility thing a reality in you, change your DNA with a snap of my fingers and a few moving of important parts and bam! Fiction becomes reality!”

Moira was taken aback by that, twiddling her fingers together nervously, “That, uh, no, I mean.” She grimaced, “If it comes to that… we can use magic, only as a last resort. I will only ever use it as a last resort, I want to do this on my own.”

Mercy rolled her eyes, “You want to do this on your own? Yeah, that’s why you summoned a demon, to do everything on your own. But, sure, sure. Here’s a powerful demon with demonic powers and magic, but don’t use any of it, why would you want to?”

Moira sneered, “You don’t look so powerful right now.”

Mercy placed a hand on her chest, “Oh, you wound me…” She then grabbed the back of the couch and dragged herself upwards, “But you’re right.” She said in a drained tone, “I need power if you want me to help you tonight…”

Moira began reaching for her hair, “Uh, maybe a few strands?”

“Your hair won’t work anymore.”

“Then… what? I don’t know what I have to offer—"

“A kiss.”

It was Moira’s turn to ask, “What?”


	5. In Which a Kiss Is Shared

A silence fell over the two of them as Moira stood in front of Mercy, both staring at each other. Moira’s expression was wide-eyed, mouth slightly agape, while Mercy looked at her, almost analyzing what her reaction was going to be.

“A kiss.” She said again, flicking her tail towards Moira’s mouth and then at her own ruby red lips. “Kisses are one of the stronger forms of energy for us if they’re on the lips. You’re an energy source, and what you can give me is a conduit, so to speak, until you have to restore your own energy from resting. We’re symbiotic now, in a way, since you made a pact with me.”

Moira cocked her head, side-to-side, still looking astonished by the proposal, “You’re… serious? You can’t be—”

“I am,” Mercy muttered, pulling her legs up to her chest as she sat up, propping her back up against the couch’s arm so that Moira could sit down. 

“I don’t understand,” Moira said as she sat, leaning against her own knees, glancing sideways at Mercy.

“What don’t you understand? Maybe I can answer your questions to help you understand?” She asked.

“Why not my hair again? Or… clothes or—”

“Your clothes are nothing to me.” Mercy giggled at what she had just said, “Literally, you could take your clothes off right now since—”

“Uh no.” Moira said flatly, “Let’s not go too far, for now.”

“Oh, you just said ‘for now’, sounds like my future’s going to get a little better!” Mercy giggled some more, causing Moira to cast a glare at her.

“Don’t hold your breath.” She muttered, “Now, moving on, what about my hair?”

“Your hair comes in limited supplies, first off, and the energy from it isn’t a lot. Some of my magic costs a lot of energy, some of it doesn’t. I mean, I could help you now, but my thinking capacity is… limited. It’s like, for you, staying awake for two full nights. Usually, demons don’t need energy from summoners because we don’t stay here longer than needed, and just being in Hell replenishes us, but I’d have to stay there for a while and wouldn’t be able to help you—”

“Then why not just…” Moira stumbled over her words as she reached up to touch her own lips, “Take it?”

“Take it?” She asked in response, looking away from Moira, her smile turning to a frown, “You mean, don’t ask and just… kiss you?”

“Yeah, why ask? Just… take the energy…” She quickly dropped her hands to her lap, glancing at Mercy while shaking her head, “Not that I’m saying you should do that! I’m just asking, just, it crossed my mind and… I wanted to know… why not…”

“Yeah, I understand what you mean. Um…” Mercy scratched her nose as her legs slipped down over Moira’s lap and she looked back at her, “I could do that, but… it’s different. I-I don’t like… that.”

“Different?” 

“Different energy. Bad energy.”

“Aren’t you a demon? Isn’t it all bad energy?”

“No, I mean, yes, but…” She groaned, “Non-consensual acts give energy but, it’s… corrupting energy for the demon, equal to your drugs, it’s like an addiction and the corruption causes the demon to lose their mind, their everything. They become monsters, in a sense, hungry for more, needing more to survive, as any other normal source of energy doesn’t fuel them anymore and souls become obsolete as they set their sights on your world and every human in it for energy. Those are the demons that… well, my whole race gives us a bad name, but those are the ones from the stories, the ones that have attacked this world.”

“Attacked this world?" Moira muttered before her eyes widened, "You don't mean, that war, from some time ago was..."

Mercy nodded, “The one your people called the Demon Crisis, the one that is filled with controversy if it really happened or if it was just some political grab, or even just a scare-tactic. Well, it did happen, and it was caused by demons who took what they wanted, took their humans’ energy forcefully and fused together with their human summoners to become monstrous, looking for more to take. They were rightfully put down for it. Hell isn’t great, but for us demons, it’s the only place we got, and we try to follow a code, believe it or not, and we don’t want to destroy this world; thus we don’t condone the demons who do try to take from you humans and kill all the living in the process, we aren’t all that bad.”

“That’s… not comforting to know that a demon could just become a monster like that and that it really has happened before…”

“It doesn’t occur often, besides, I’ll protect you from any other demons or monsters or demon hunters.”

“So, this kiss,” Moira said, quickly changed the subject, “it’ll be the same as when I gave you my hair?” She asked as she gently pushed Mercy’s legs off her, turning on the couch to face her, tucking her own legs under herself.

Mercy watched her as she spoke, “Yes, exactly like that. Nothing more, nothing less.” She smirked, “Unless, you know, you want more, I wouldn’t be surprised if my kiss drives you wild for me, Schnügel. Or honey. Which do you prefer? Or maybe you’d like to be called something naughtier—" 

Moira’s hand came to Mercy’s mouth, stopping the demon from speaking. “None of the above. Now, if you want this to happen, I don't want to hear any wisecracks from you.” Moira threatened, “And no tongue, no teeth, just a kiss on the lips, you know, for science-related purposes only, I need your help tonight…”

Mercy nodded as Moira removed her hand, “Your desire is my command.”

Moira leaned in closer and Mercy followed her lead until their faces were right in front of each other. The demon had a gleeful expression, a smile plastered on her face, as Moira bit her lips, looking from the demon’s eyes to her lips and back again. 

“I can’t be the one to kiss you, you have to do it.” Mercy muttered after a few seconds had passed, her eyes falling to the ground for a split second before she looked back up at Moira, her own expression changing to be calm and collected.

“I-I know.” Moira stammered, a blush forming across her cheeks. 

Mercy’s face turned to concern as she observed the other’s hesitation and she reached a hand out to Moira, gently caressing her cheek. At first, she flinched away from it, but then she leaned into it, the feeling comforting to her. “It’s alright…” The demon said softly, moving closer towards Moira. “You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to, Moira. Honestly, I think I can help you as I am, I’ll just be a little slower than normal, but if you don’t want to do this it’s perfectly fine with me—"

“I want to do it, I mean, no, I uh, I can do it, I’m okay kissing you is what I mean, it’s my choice and… I’m choosing to… kiss you, oh stop talking me…” Moira stammered over her words as Mercy laughed, but it was a different laugh than usual, quieter, softer, less like she was laughing at Moira and more like she was laughing at the situation they were in.

Moira parted her mouth slightly as she pressed her lips against Mercy’s, their noses brushing as the two kissed. Mercy kept her hand on the side of Moira’s cheek, gently brushing it, and her eyes closed as soon as their lips touched. The demon’s lips were warm to the touch compared to her own cooler lips, and they were softer than Moira had thought they’d be, and soon her whole body began to warm up. Meanwhile, Mercy was enjoying feeling the little ridges on Moira’s bottom lip from her biting her lip constantly and noticed that Moira began to squirm, but the other woman didn’t pull back as she continued to press her lips against hers, showing no sign of stopping. After a few pounding heartbeats later, the demon opened her eyes again to a truly lovely sight. Moira’s worried look was washed away, her eyes gently closed, and she looked blissful, the tension in her face gone as her cheeks showed a nice hint of red. Mercy began to smile against Moira’s lips as the other, finally, opened her own eyes and pulled away, mouth still slightly open, face redder than before. Even Mercy couldn’t deny she felt her own face reddening and her body heating up, and that wasn’t just from the newly acquired energy coursing through her. She loved the kiss, she wanted to remember Moira’s lips, the way they felt and curved against her own, forever, and she wanted more, to explore the other’s mouth, to taste her, but she wondered if Moira wanted the same, but she didn’t want to ask, not now, when there was work to be done.

Moira brought her hands to her mouth once again before coughing and standing up quickly, turning so that Mercy couldn’t see her face any longer. “Well then!” She said in a breathy voice as she walked away from Mercy to go and grab some paper and pencils, “Can we, I mean, we should, um, we need to uh—”

“Let’s begin.” The demon spoke softly as she floated up from the couch and over to where Moira was getting supplies for their all-nighter, her energy back again and she had a bump in her confidence from seeing Moira’s reaction of their first kiss. Once she got to see the other’s face again, she couldn’t help but chuckle when she noticed some of her red lipstick on Moira’s pale pink lips, and as the other became flustered and began wiping the lipstick off she couldn’t help but feel a bit of happiness from seeing a mark of her own on the mortal, even though it was short-lived. She wanted to leave more marks of love on her body, ones that she couldn't clean off with a napkin, and her mind wandered to Moira's body covered in little love bites and nips from the demon's teeth. Of course, she'd only do it if Moira would allow it, but Mercy had a feeling that the other would love it just as much as she would. Her mind came back to the project in front of her, as the two began working together on completing the formula that night.


	6. In Which Magic Is Used

The first thing she felt was a pang in her neck, the second was the coldness of whatever she was laying against. Slowly, with a groan, she pulled her head up, drowsiness still clouding her eyes as something warm and soft slipped from her shoulders and down her back to the floor. Her nails dug against the laminate countertop and she blinked a few times and, slowly, her surroundings came back to her, her kitchen, the counters, and Mercy, who was sitting near her and she glanced over at Moira as she began to stir.

“You dropped your blanket…” She muttered, whatever else she said not fully registering with Moira as the Demon swiftly flew off from the chair, dipped down to the ground, and grabbed the blanket that fell and wrapped it around Moira’s shoulders again. She then flew over the countertop to the stove, picking up a mug and bringing it to Moira. “I felt that you’d wake up soon, here, some tea.” She placed the tea in front of the groggy woman, “I heated it myself, and if it’s too cool then I can easily heat it again.” She snapped her fingers, a small flame appearing at the tip of her pointer finger’s fingernail before she vanished it as she sat up on the countertop beside Moira.

“Your hand…” Moira muttered, staring at the demonic hand which rested on the countertop, the usual pale skin marked with red marks, “Did you burn yourself?”

Mercy glanced down at her hand, “Ah...” She stammered, hiding her hand in her lap, “The water splashed on me while I was making your tea. Your sink has two levels of intensity, the first being one drop of water per hour and the other being the equivalent of a waterfall.” 

“Just, please be more careful next time, I don’t like seeing you hurt.” Moira picked the warm mug up, bringing it to her lips as she took a large sip. Her face scrunched up as much of the liquid was sickly sweet and stuck to the insides of her mouth. She choked it down, the thick liquid lathering her throat and causing her to cough, “How…” She coughed again, “How much honey did you put in this?”

Mercy tilted her head at her reaction, “Like, half?”

“Half? Half of what?”

“The mug.”

Moira cringed upon hearing that and sat the mug down, “Uh, next time maybe just a spoonful or two of honey.”

“I thought you liked a lot—” Mercy stopped her own argument with a sigh as she picked the mug up and flew over to the sink, “I’ll uh, remember that for next time.”

Moira yawned as Mercy poured the honey and tea mixture down the drain, but she didn’t turn the sink's water on, and instead just left it unclean in the sink. She looked around the room, her eyebrows furrowing when she saw the multiple papers, some crumpled, some not, pencils, and calculators lying around. Suddenly, her eyes widened, as she turned around quickly, the blanket falling once again, as she looked out the window and saw the sunlight creeping in through the drapes. She let out a gasp, bringing her hands to her cheeks in a loud clap, “Oh no! It’s morning—I fell asleep!”

“Yeah,” Mercy said calmly, flying back over to Moira, “You fell asleep around… three, I think.”

Moira began clawing at her hair, messing it up further, “The experiment! The serum! We didn’t get it done! I-I can’t believe—” When she dragged her nails down across her cheeks, leaving red lines, Mercy flinched and grabbed her hands.

“Stop that!” She shouted, causing Moira to jump at her sudden loudness. Mercy lowered hers and Moira’s hands before letting go, “Look, you did enough, I just took your formula and worked on it while you were asleep.” She picked up a piece of paper, handing it to Moira.

“You finished it? Thank you…” She muttered, glancing at the work Mercy had done, “Then, maybe we still have time to—”

“It isn’t finished.” Mercy cut-in, flying behind Moira, “Look.” She pointed out a single number in the formula, “This is incorrect. I mean, the formula is correct, but that’s because I bent the rules. That single number makes it incorrect.” She then flew over to where she was originally sitting, pushing a wad of crumpled papers over to Moira, “And this, these, they were my attempts at fixing the error.” She looked down at the pile of papers solemnly, “I couldn’t fix it for you…”

“Then,” Moira muttered, still looking over the formula in her hand, “can we fix it? Before—”

“I tried so many times already! We’d have to restart from the very beginning to fix such an error, but I couldn’t figure out the correct way to do so. It’s almost as if… this formula isn’t possible.” 

Moira grimaced, “Well, I knew that it being impossible was a possibility, but…” She placed the paper down on the countertop before she stood, crossing her arms around herself and walking over to the sofa, “I got so far with the formula that I thought it had to be right, finally, something I hypothesized would be correct, would work, and I put everything on it working… and it doesn’t.” She picked up her cellphone from the sofa and turned it on and began to scroll through her contracts, “Then what can we do?” She pulled the business card out of her suit pocket and began to speak quickly, frantically, listing idea after idea as she gazed at the business card, “Call him, that Reyes guy? Lie to him? No, he had some elite form of police chasing him, lying would be idiotic. Ask for more time? Maybe ask for help from him? But he said he was leaving today regardless of my decision. What about help from my parents?” Her grip tightened on the cellphone as Mercy looked away, her emotions hitting Mercy like a wave, “I'd have to admit defeat… probably go back to living a life that I don’t want…” She threw her phone and the business card down on the sofa, “I can’t…”

“There’s another option.” Mercy stated, and she picked up another piece of paper, one that had an unfinished formula written on it. She then went over to Moira, wrapping her tail around the thinner woman’s waist to comfort her.

“What?” Moira asked, her voice trembling, as she looked at whatever Mercy was holding.

Mercy opened the paper, showing the formula, and she gave Moira a small smile, “I can make things a reality, lest you forget. See, I can bend this formula to my will,” With that, she held her free hand up, its claw-like features almost caressing the paper as Mercy’s eyes went completely blood red, vacant, and before Moira’s own eyes the numbers changed on the paper, drifting into place forcefully, completing the formula. Mercy blinked a few times, as she glanced at the paper. “See, it’s wrong, but… I can force it to be right. Imagine this,” She then pushed the paper closer to Moira’s stomach, “happening to your insides.”

“Uh,” Moira gaped, taking a step away, “can you reword that, so it sounds, I dunno, safer? Better?”

Mercy narrowed her eyes at her, “Oh, I’m sorry,” She said sarcastically, flicking her tail away from Moira, “let’s see, rearranging your insides? Changing your body’s natural formula? Stitching your D.N.A together in a way that it shouldn’t go together?”

“Ok, alright, stop, stop!” Moira muttered, holding her hands up, “I get it, there isn’t a way to say it that’s… normal.”

“That’s because it isn’t normal. But, hey, everything we’ve done together thus far hasn’t been so normal either.” 

Moira glanced back down at her phone, biting her lip, “So, I can either let you help me, in your demonic way, or call my parents and have them… nope, no way, do what you gotta do, your way is a thousand times better than whatever I’d have to endure if I call them.”

“Then you give me permission?”

Moira opened her arms up and closed her eyes, “Fire away… or, I mean, don’t fire, no fire, uh just, rearrange me…” She swallowed hard at hearing her own words.

Mercy couldn’t help but caress the other’s cheek to calm her. At first, Moira flinched away from the touch, but relaxed when she felt the other’s warm hand against her, “It’ll be alright, I won’t let anything bad happen to you.” She muttered, her hand gliding down Moira’s cheek to her chin where she tapped a sharp fingernail against the bottom of her chin, forcing Moira to hold her head up higher, “There, show some confidence! It’ll be over before you even know it.” With that, the demon brought both her hands out in front of her, towards Moira without touching her, a small grin on her face as she began working, her eyes becoming blood red once again, her fingers dancing in the air as she began to do just as the formula was supposed to do: change Moira’s own D.N.A so that she could turn invisible, or fade, at will, for a short time. 

Moira squeezed her eyes shut tighter as Mercy took her hand away from her cheek, as she knew that the process was going to start soon. Her toes curled in her shoes when she began to feel her insides heat up, a warm feeling washing over all of her as a million questions ran through her, which was more than usual, but the one that kept coming up was, ‘Was this the right choice?’ She had said she didn’t want demonic intervention in the form of magics, yet here she was, accepting more and more of Mercy’s powers into her life, allowing the demon to change her to get what she wanted. Was she better than the others that summoned Mercy before her, or was she just the same as them? She sighed, afraid of the answer, but it gnawed at the back of her head…

“Finished…” The voice that said that did not sound like Mercy. It was lower, guttural, echoing throughout the apartment. It sounded like the Devil himself had entered the room with the two of them, and Moira opened her eyes wide, expecting to see just that. Instead, it was just Mercy, floating in front of her with blood-red, vacant eyes again. The demon then blinked a few times and shook her head, bringing a hand up to grip her forehead.

“So, how do I know it worked?” Moira muttered, crossing her arms in front of her stomach, which still felt incredibly warm to the touch.

Mercy had her eyes shut tight, her lips pulled into a snarl as she continued to grip her head, “You just… feel it, think it, then it happens. It’s a part of you, like breathing or walking or whatever else humans do…”

“Are you alright?” Moira asked, taking a step towards her. “Does your head—”

“I’m fine,” Mercy muttered back, waving a hand at her not to come closer as she managed to find the sofa without seeing and rested down on it, “Just, that was a hard spell. Go on, try it out… I just need some time to rest…”

Moira watched her, concerned, wanting to help her, but she didn’t, and when Mercy managed to get on the sofa she decided that the Demon would be fine, besides, she just had to see if this would work. Just as Mercy said to do, she imagined herself turning invisible, going across from the living room to the kitchen area, fading away for a few seconds, and before she even realized it, she was in the kitchen, and she looked down at herself, which was clear in color, see-through looking, and surrounded by a smokey veil, before it went away and she was left in the kitchen just as if she had walked over to it. She could barely believe her eyes, and she had to have someone else watch her, just to make sure she wasn’t hallucinating, wasn’t dreaming…

“Mercy!” Moira called, running back over to the demon who was still sitting on the sofa, “I did it, I think, I, you, open your eyes and watch me!” She practically sat in Mercy’s lap, her knees straddling Mercy’s waist as the Demon pulled her face back in surprise, “It was effortless, it was just as you said, it was—” Moira went on and on, excitement springing from her tone.

Mercy managed to find Moira’s shoulders, pushing her back a little bit away from her face, “Alright, alright, calm down!” She snapped, but her mouth was curled into a grin, “I’m happy to hear it worked,” She opened her eyes, which were no longer completely blood red and were back to normal, although they showed some tiredness in them, “Let’s see—” Her voice dropped quickly, her mouth hanging open, her eyes wide.

Moira’s smile disappeared at Mercy’s peculiar reaction. She sat back on Mercy’s thighs, looking away from her for a split second before looking back, “What’s wrong?” She questioned.

“Your eye…” 

Moira’s stared at her curiously, her eyebrows furrowing, “My eye? What about it? What…?” She couldn’t understand what Mercy was getting at, and the Demon didn’t answer, still shocked beyond belief. Moira stood up from her lap, not moving her gaze away from Mercy, waiting for her to begin laughing, to poke fun at Moira for falling for something so simple, for this to be some sort of joke, but when Mercy’s expression didn’t change she left to go look at her eye in the bathroom mirror. When she saw her reflection, she audibly gasped, taking a few steps backward out of the bathroom. “Mercy! Mercy!” She called, desperately, as Mercy slowly got up off the sofa, half-flying, half-walking, over to Moira, her tail dragging on the ground. When she came, Moira looked between her and the mirror, her complexion pale, “My eye…”

“It’s like mine.” Mercy finally spoke. Moira’s right eye, which used to be blue, now matched Mercy’s red demonic eyes. 

“What happened!? Did you do this during the spell!?” Moira demanded, coming face-to-face with the Demon, who slouched away from her.

“I didn’t do anything…” She muttered back, looking at the floor, “I… I don’t know what this is. Um, I might be able to undo it… just uh, change a few things around, again… does it hurt? Or… is it a different feeling than your blue eye?”

“No, it’s not…” Moira let out a frustrated groan, covering both her eyes with her palms and rubbing them, “Is this a side-effect?”

“Could be?” Mercy questioned, glancing back at her, “I’ve never had something like that happen before to anyone else… but I also never stayed this long with anyone else…” 

Moira dropped her hands down to her sides and pushed past Mercy, “I can’t think about this right now, I have to call Reyes, before he leaves… then, uh, maybe that Demonology book has something about it, at least, we better hope it does.

“Perhaps, but what are you going to do if we can’t fix it? He saw you before without a red eye, and besides that, it is rather curious for a human to have a red eye and a blue eye, no?” Mercy inquired, floating slowly behind Moira as she sat on the sofa, phone in one hand, business card in the other.

She stopped dialing the number for a second, “We’ll just have to figure it out…” She then hit call and placed a single finger up to her lip so that Mercy knew to stay quiet. The phone rang three times before it got answered.

“Hello?”

“Hello? Reyes?” 

“Ah, I was expecting your call, Geneticist.”


	7. In Which a Deal Is Signed

“This is the place…” Moira said, as she stepped off the bus with Mercy and looked down at the hastily written address that she copied from the phone call between Reyes and her. “He said come here with the items you can’t leave behind…” She looked back up at a run-down, single-story cottagey home, nothing surrounding it but wild grass and ferns. She had a small box of a few things that she couldn’t leave behind under her arm as she put the note away in her jean pocket, having finally changed out of her suit and pajama attire and into something more casual and far more reasonable. She glanced over at Mercy, the demon staring at her face, as Moira’s newly acquired red eye was covered by an eyepatch. Her own demonic magic couldn’t change her eye back, couldn’t undo whatever she had done, and Moira’s eye seemed to be red permanently. The eyepatch was their last-ditch effort to hide it, and, while not a great plan, it still was better than nothing.  
The demon turned her gaze to the cottage, a scowl across her face, “This is nothing but trouble… this guy, this place, I have bad feelings about them.”  
Moira sighed, “It is a little… foreboding—”

“A LITTLE!?” Mercy snapped, her tail wagging violently as she floated over to Moira, “A little!? This place screams danger! Every flame of my body tells me so, we should just… cut our losses—”

“Nope.” Moira said quickly, pushing the demon away from her as she began to walk to the rotted porch, “We have to try, that’s the least we can do.”

Mercy hung her head low, teeth bared, “The least we can do she says when she has a demon of all things…” She muttered under her breath, floating behind Moira as she knocked on the door.

“Come in!” Reyes called to her from inside, and the two went indoors to meet with the mysterious man.

The inside looked a lot like the outside: rundown, with a floor that creaked with each step, but clearly there were some add-ons to the furniture inside. The kitchen was spruced up and showed usage recently and a lot of boxes and papers and maps lay about on the floor while some were pinned to the wall and a table sat in the middle of the room with more papers and books and notebooks. Reyes was sitting at the table, a mug in his hand when Moira came into the cottage. He sat the mug down and gestured to a chair in front of him, “Come and sit and let’s talk.” He said, smiling, his attire the same as before, completely black, a beanie covering his head. Moira held the box of her items closer to her as she moved across the old floor and sat her box of stuff on the table before taking a seat in front of him. “I’m glad you came.” He said, “Want anything? Tea? Coffee? Uh, what happened to your eye?”

Moira shook her head, eyes wandering to glance over the papers, a notebook open in front of Reyes, something he was reading, something about a Crisis, but before she could read anymore, he closed it.  
“Um,” She muttered, breaking her gaze away from the table, “I don’t need anything. And I hurt it… while experimenting, uh, don’t worry about it.” Mercy floated above her, her black flaming hair rapidly licking around her face, her shoulders hunched and eyes sharp as she watched every move that Reyes made.

“Alright,” He cleared his throat, pushing a document in front of her, “This is what work we want you to do,” He handed her a document and continued to speak as Moira scanned it, “We want you to conduct experiments for us from the specimens we bring back, but beyond that, we need someone analytical to help conduct our research and aid in our missions—”

“So, my job goes beyond scientific work?” She questioned him.

“Yes.”

“And what missions are these?”

“I cannot tell you until you sign and come with me…”

“That’s because it’s all fake.” Mercy growled above her, causing Moira to glance upward before she quickly looked back down at the document.

Reyes looked up, “Is… something wrong?”

“Uh, no…” Moira muttered, wanting so badly to grab the Demon by her tail and yank on it to get her to hush. 

“This is how much you’d be paid while working with us,” Reyes said, sliding over another document. 

Moira grabbed it quickly, her eyes widening at the sight of the figures. Mercy glanced at it, rolling her eyes, “You don’t need that—”

“I need this.” Moira cut her off, causing the Demon to hiss with impatience as she floated down from the sky and next to Moira, crossing her arms and huffing out a puff of angry, black smoke.

“Then, is the job satisfactory? And the payment?”

“Yes,” Moira said, not taking her eyes off the number.

“Then I need to see your work…” Reyes said, reaching across the table to take the document out of Moira’s clenched hands. She bit her lip, nodding in response as she stood from the table. 

“Alright uh—” She stammered before breathing a deep sigh, “This, I call it Fade, is um, it makes you invisible so you can travel, invisible, for a little while…” With that, she demonstrated the ability with ease, fading away from the table and over next to Reyes, disappearing in the blink of an eye and reappearing in another blink. Reyes stood from the table, clapping at what he just witnessed.

“Yes, that’s exactly what I wanted, what I had in mind!” He said, standing in front of Moira, who looked a little bewildered, but happy, nonetheless. “You, you’re special, Moira O’Deorain.” He said, patting her on the shoulder. 

“Special?” She asked, raising her head a little, eyes narrowing and grin widening, “Yeah, I uh, I am pretty special, aren’t I?”

“I’m the special one…” Mercy muttered, but Moira paid the pouting Demon no mind as she continued smiling at Reyes.

“Now then,” He grabbed one last document from the table, bringing it over to her, “I just need you to sign here and you’re a part of Blackwatch!” 

“Fakewatch, more like it…” Mercy spat as she watched Moira quickly sign the document, handing it back to Reyes.

“Perfect, now, if I can have the formula you used to create this Fade, we can get on with business.” He said, taking the document and tucking it into a beige envelope.

“Sure thing,” Moira said, walking over to her box of items.

“What?” Mercy asked, watching, wide-eyed, as Moira dug through the box and brought out the formula—the fake formula, the one she forced to be correct. “You didn’t tell me this was part of the deal, Moira! You can’t give him that, it isn’t real, it doesn’t work!” 

As she turned back to face Reyes, she glared at Mercy, “Just as you asked for over the phone, Reyes.” Moira said, walking back over to him, the formula in hand. 

Mercy dove over the table, flying just above it, grabbing Moira’s hand. “Don’t do it! This is a bad idea!” Mercy snapped, her eyes flicking between Reyes and Moira, “Listen to me!”

Moira’s face contorted to a grimace as she began to try to force her arm forward, the demon yanking it back, “H-here’s…. the….” She managed to push her arm forward, towards Reyes, giving him the formula, much to Mercy’s anger, “the formula…” Moira sighed a breath of relief as the Demon let go of her, sinking down in disbelief.

“You fool!”

“Thank you.” He said, putting the formula also in the beige envelope and taking the envelope under his arm. “Now then, I believe it’s time we depart…”

“Uh…” Moira muttered, glancing between Mercy and Reyes, “Depart where?”

Just as she spoke, a loud noise of whirling wind hit their ears.

“Looks like our ride to Blackwatch is here!” Reyes said, turning to the back of the house where a helicopter could clearly be seen through the small, dusty windows.

“A helicopter?” Moira said, astonished at the sight.

“What the Hell is that thing?” Mercy muttered, and when she noticed Reyes had his back to them, she reached over and punched Moira’s shoulder. Hard.

“Ow!” She shouted, not expecting the punch as she staggered from the blow.

Reyes turned his head back to look at her, “You alright?”

“Um, yeah, just… heh, eyelash?” She muttered as she stopped rubbing her shoulder and instead began rubbing her, a sheepish smile on her face.

“You deserved that.” Mercy sneered at her. “And you deserve a whole lot more if you force me to get on that crazy contraption…” 

“Oh, we’re going on it…” Moira hissed as Reyes waved to her to follow him as he walked over to the backdoor, leaving it open as he went outside, his voice being drowned out by the whirling of the blades. Moira followed quickly, not scared of the adventure ahead of her, excited for the money and for the chance to research, and Mercy floated slowly behind, feeling unwell about everything that had transpired and everything that was about to transpire.


End file.
